Rape or sexual assault: what do I do now?1:29

If you or someone you know, believe that you've been sexually assaulted, raped or harassed, it's hard to know what to do. This video will take you through the next steps.

May 28th 2018

10 months ago

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Wayne Astill has been charged with two counts of sexual assault.Source:Facebook

A New South Wales corrections officer has been charged with the “ongoing sexual abuse” of several female inmates at a women’s prison in western Sydney.

Wayne Astill, 62, was arrested this morning following a joint investigation between NSW Police and Correctional Services into allegations of sexual assault made against him.

He has since been charged on 12 counts of sexual assault and other offences, allegedly committed against two female inmates at the Dillwynia Correctional Centre in Windsor between 2016 and 2017, a police spokeswoman told news.com.au.

Mr Astill has been suspended from duty and will remain behind bars at Windsor Police Station tonight.

A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman told news.com.au that the “alleged behaviour is unacceptable”.

“CSNSW will continue to do everything it can to assist the investigation and the women involved,” she said.

“All inmates are being reminded of the avenues available to them to report any instances of such behaviour, including CSNSW staff, the NSW Ombudsman, NSW Police and official visitors.

“Allegations of this nature are extremely rare and do not reflect upon the vast majority of our staff, who would be disgusted by these allegations.”

Authorities have reportedly said further charges could be laid against Mr Astill. He is expected to appear in Penrith Local Court on Thursday.

Wayne Astill has been charged with 12 counts of sexual assault.Source:Facebook

Dillwynia Correction Centre is a medium security facility, on the John Morony Correctional Complex, about 50km northwest of Sydney, and houses about 260 female offenders.

In December 2017, the inmates were banned from receiving underwear from family and friends and instead issued with “unflattering” garments provided by the prison, as exclusively reported by news.com.au.

Authorities discovered drugs were being smuggled in via inmates’ underwear, and to crack down on the contraband, the governor banned inmates from wearing their own undies under their green, white and maroon prison uniforms.

Inmates complained the prison undergarments were “unflattering” and begged prison hierarchy to change their minds.

The move came following a number of incidents where drugs were smuggled into the prison. That led to a direct appeal to inmates for the smuggling to stop. But the contraband kept on coming.

“Following recent incidents where contraband was smuggled into the centre in underwear, the Governor issued a warning and interim measure to restrict visitors from bringing these items in,” a Corrective Services spokeswoman said at the time.